In 1968, composer Wendy Carlos (né Walter Carlos) made electronic music history with her LP Switched-On Bach, a collection of Bach's works performed on an early Moog synthesizer. Today, that album and Carlos' soundtrack work is still informing the music of pioneering electronic composers.

"To my knowledge, there were only three practitioners of the Moog synthesizer when I began. People couldn't even pronounce the word -- synthesizer. I remember when we were putting together my Switched-On Bach album, some of the producers didn't want us to use the word."

The album jump-started Carlos' music career, leading to numerous collections of original material, a sequel (Switched-On Bach II) and multiple notable soundtrack contributions. Thanks to her groundbreaking synth work, Carlos was tapped to compose the scores for Stanley Kubrick's A Clockwork Orange (1971) and the original Tron (1982).

Since its release, Switched-On Bach has helped inspire generations of electronic music artists. Carlos' performances have been cited as a major influence by such disparate artists as indie Moog revivalists Joy Electric and mainstream electro-funk duo Daft Punk. In an interview with Ocean Drive magazine, Dutch trance DJ Armin van Buuren name-checked the release as the catalyst of his music career:

"I remember an LP called Switched-On Bach by Walter Carlos, and that's considered to be one of the very first electronic records ever made. I think it was made in 1968 or something. My father actually gave me that copy of Walter Carlos because it's not available online anywhere -- you can't get it anywhere legally. [...] That's sort of where it all started, that's where my interest in electronic music began. He made digital works of Bach and he played it on a [Moog] synthesizer, which is a very interesting thing, I think."

Both classical and electronic music fans would do well to seek out Switched-On Bach -- if you can find it. Below, listen to some of Carlos' work from the Tron score.